Hobie Tiger 18 mainsail tear

Hello,

I was trying to setup my new (second hand) Hobie Tiger 18 today.
I put some tension on the downhaul, didn't think it was too much, and then because there were still creases all over the sail. I pulled the end of the boom down a bit to see how much adjustment there there was and then a loud noise and tear at the bottom of the sail.

I am not sure whether there was an issue with the sail to start with or if I did something wrong.

Now the sail has to be repaired but it would be great to understand whether i did something wrong so it does not happen again.

Any advise are very much appreciated.

I’m not an expert on F18, but it looks like your outhaul is too tight, especially based on the based on the loose section of the leech right above the clew fitting in the 2nd picture you posted. I suspect that with the outhaul being so tight, as you pulled in the mainsheet, the boom effectively gets longer as it becomes more horizontal. This over-stressed the foot of the mainsail.

I think you should try with the outhaul looser.

sm

I agree with your comment.

Coming from a windsurfing background, I will need to be more mindful and show some restraint when puling on down haul and out haul ropes.
I never thought that could rip the sail.

I am also intrigued as why the down haul attachment on the mainsail is 15-20cm up from the edge.
there must be a good reason for it.

Pulling hard on the downhaul should not be a problem. The sail is designed to take a lot of load along the luff (leading edge).

On the outhaul, there’s no reason to pull it excessively tight. You should always have some looseness to allow camber/shape down low in the sail.

Also noticed that you don’t have the mast rotation control arm rigged correctly. The arm should be entirely above the boom. Then the line on top of the boom is tied off at the cleat, goes forward through the control arm, and back to the cleat. This allows adjustment of the mast angle.

sm